Who's opinion really matters - Updated II
The semester is winding down. It officially ends Friday but I'll be turning in my last 2 assignments tonight. I'm glad the one course with the terrible instructor is over and done with. I did get a chance to evaluate the course and it wasn't pretty. I've lost any respect for the instructor I might have had.
To give you an example, I had two "scholarly" papers to write. The first was the beginning section of what will be my final project for my degree. Here's what my instructor said after giving me 30/30 on the assignment: "Overall this paper is really excellent. I cannot see any revisions needed for SEL except maybe move the tows matrix right after the swot before the sbu." I think this paper is a typical example of my work.
For the "other" course, I had to write a supposed scholarly paper on a topic of my choice. I researched the topic and presented my argument in my usual third person style as that's what I think a scholarly paper should be. Here's what my instructor said of my introduction: "This is not a good intro, but will be easy to turn it around." The paper had the following comments after she hacked it: "Try to cut down on any repetition, but keep the “I” statements."
I read what she gave me and I thought it was terrible. I definately would not submit work like that. However, getting a good grade is more important than fighting over content so I updated my paper. Again, many thanks to Jammie for reviewing my work and correcting my grammar. She's my guardian angel when it comes to writing. But even she was confused by what my instructor was looking for. Truthfully, however, if I calcualte my grade correctly I need to get better than a 67% on this paper to get an A in the course. I can't imagine my grade would be THAT bad. My research section is very solid. And if the grade isn't what I think I deserve, look out.
My next course doesn't start until May 9 so I've got some down time from school. Besides filling it up with all of the appointments due to kids activities and church/band, I'm doing some recreational reading. I've read Wicked (which I really liked) and am reading the sequal, Son of a Witch. It's nice not to be sweating an assignment for a little bit.
Update - So I went to submit one of my two final papers tonight. This particular assignment was a choice between two topics. I emailed the instructor at the end of February on the topic I was going to do because I had questions on it. I got a response with answers to my questions so I went ahead and wrot the paper to complete before going on vacation. I didn't look at that assignment again until today. And the topic I wrote about was GONE. A DIFFERENT topic replaced it (an easier one BTW). You want to talk about panic? The semester ends FRIDAY and there's no way I can do a good job on a paper in that short period of time.
I've emailed the instructor and am awaiting a response on what to do. There was no notification anywhere that the assignment had changed. I think I should be able to turn in the assignment I did since I had no way of knowing it changed. Why would I check it if I thought the topic I picked was valid? The link was to get the assignment and turn it in. I did get some quick references and sketched out an outline in case I have to write something last minute. But I think it's grossly unfair to do something like that without telling the class. I'm getting penalized for doing work ahead of time. That's total bullshit. If I don't like the answer I get I may contact my advisor on this one. We shall see.
Updated update: My instructor emailed me that she would accept the assignment I did so no additional work needed. Yay! Good thing too since I put about 20 hours into writing something like 27 pages. Wish I'd have known early that I could have done a 5 to 7 page assignment instead.
To give you an example, I had two "scholarly" papers to write. The first was the beginning section of what will be my final project for my degree. Here's what my instructor said after giving me 30/30 on the assignment: "Overall this paper is really excellent. I cannot see any revisions needed for SEL except maybe move the tows matrix right after the swot before the sbu." I think this paper is a typical example of my work.
For the "other" course, I had to write a supposed scholarly paper on a topic of my choice. I researched the topic and presented my argument in my usual third person style as that's what I think a scholarly paper should be. Here's what my instructor said of my introduction: "This is not a good intro, but will be easy to turn it around." The paper had the following comments after she hacked it: "Try to cut down on any repetition, but keep the “I” statements."
I read what she gave me and I thought it was terrible. I definately would not submit work like that. However, getting a good grade is more important than fighting over content so I updated my paper. Again, many thanks to Jammie for reviewing my work and correcting my grammar. She's my guardian angel when it comes to writing. But even she was confused by what my instructor was looking for. Truthfully, however, if I calcualte my grade correctly I need to get better than a 67% on this paper to get an A in the course. I can't imagine my grade would be THAT bad. My research section is very solid. And if the grade isn't what I think I deserve, look out.
My next course doesn't start until May 9 so I've got some down time from school. Besides filling it up with all of the appointments due to kids activities and church/band, I'm doing some recreational reading. I've read Wicked (which I really liked) and am reading the sequal, Son of a Witch. It's nice not to be sweating an assignment for a little bit.
Update - So I went to submit one of my two final papers tonight. This particular assignment was a choice between two topics. I emailed the instructor at the end of February on the topic I was going to do because I had questions on it. I got a response with answers to my questions so I went ahead and wrot the paper to complete before going on vacation. I didn't look at that assignment again until today. And the topic I wrote about was GONE. A DIFFERENT topic replaced it (an easier one BTW). You want to talk about panic? The semester ends FRIDAY and there's no way I can do a good job on a paper in that short period of time.
I've emailed the instructor and am awaiting a response on what to do. There was no notification anywhere that the assignment had changed. I think I should be able to turn in the assignment I did since I had no way of knowing it changed. Why would I check it if I thought the topic I picked was valid? The link was to get the assignment and turn it in. I did get some quick references and sketched out an outline in case I have to write something last minute. But I think it's grossly unfair to do something like that without telling the class. I'm getting penalized for doing work ahead of time. That's total bullshit. If I don't like the answer I get I may contact my advisor on this one. We shall see.
Updated update: My instructor emailed me that she would accept the assignment I did so no additional work needed. Yay! Good thing too since I put about 20 hours into writing something like 27 pages. Wish I'd have known early that I could have done a 5 to 7 page assignment instead.
Comments
Hopefully your next semester will NOT include that particular instructor.
Good for you for finishing this one up, a well deserved break from it will be nice! :-)